Mycatholicblog cannot say it enough: we love the Deacon’s Bench, the blog run by Deacon Greg Kandra. Check out this interesting story he posted about the newest plans from the Discovery Channel:

Discovery Channel is teaming with the Vatican for an unprecedented new series hunting the deadliest catch of all: Demons.

The Exorcist Files will recreate stories of real-life hauntings and demonic possession, based on cases investigated by the Catholic Church. The project includes access into the Vatican’s case files, as well as interviews with the organization’s top exorcists — religious experts who are rarely seen on television.

“The Vatican is an extraordinarily hard place to get access to, but we explained we’re not going to try to tell people what to think,” says Discovery president and GM Clark Bunting.

Bunting says the investigators believe a demon can inhabit an inanimate object (like a home) or a person. The network executive says he was initially skeptical when first meeting the team but was won over after more than three hours of talks.

“The work these folks do, and their conviction in their beliefs, make for fascinating stories,” Bunting says.

If the show’s first season is successful, the network hopes its partnership with the Church will pave the way for producers GoGo Luckey to take the series to the next level — joining Catholic investigators on live demon-purging ride-alongs. (Move over, Syfy’s Ghost Hunters.)

As frightening as this series sounds, and as peculiar of a collaboration it may be, mycatholicblog will definitely be watching!!

NOTE: Reports have since been released that the collaboration between the Vatican and the Discovery Channel is absolutely unofficial, and the exact extent of the Vatican’s involvement remains unknown at this time.